DID YOU KNOW? Since 2008, 7 899 rhinos have been poached in South Africa, with a rhino killed almost every eight hours? These shocking and sad statistics highlight the plight of these magnificent creatures that are facing extinction due to the exponential rise in illegal rhino poaching in South Africa.
Rhino poaching is increasing at an alarming rate. Rhinos Without Borders was established in order to start moving these endangered animals away from the poaching hot-spots to a safer environment. In this case, the safer environment is one of our neighbouring countries, Botswana, where virtually no poaching takes place.
Linton Park Wines have contributed significant funds to help move 87 rhinos from South Africa to the relative safety of Botswana. Recently, the 30th rhino calf was born to the Rhinos Without Borders rhinos.
While this is indeed wonderful news, there is still much to be done with regards to rhino conservation, moving rhinos to safety and creating awareness while educating the public about the importance of saving the rhinos.
I was invited to join Linton Park Wines on Saturday, 14 September 2019 to help raise awareness and support Rhinos Without Borders (RWB). The V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre had a packed audience, with live music provided by Aston Wylie & his band. Herman le Roux, General Manager and Commercial Director of Linton Park Wine Estate gave a brief presentation about the estate’s historical connection with rhinos and raising funds for and financially supporting the Rhinos Without Borders Conservation Project.
This was followed by an inspirational talk and presentation by Les Carlisle, the passionate, highly knowledgeable and fiercely determined Group Conservation Manager of the &Beyond Group and RWB Conservation Project.
It was truly heartwarming to find out that learners from Hugo Rust Primary School in Wellington have raised an extraordinary amount of R 40 079 through their various fundraising efforts.
Not only did I learn about the tremendous hard work and dedication it takes the RWB team to transport each rhino to safety (it is a mammoth task!), but I was pleased to have my 11 year old son by my side as he also learnt much about rhino conservation and how important it is to save these incredible creatures that are sadly on the brink of extinction.
How Can YOU Help?
You can play a vital role in supporting this incredible conservation initiative by buying the Linton Park ’Rhino’ wine range at the wine estate in Wellington. This makes for a fantastic day trip from Cape Town. Enjoy a delicious lunch at their relaxed eatery, Uncorked, while sipping on a glass of chilled Chardonnay, or any of the Rhino wines that take your fancy. One rand from each bottle sold of the Rhino wine range goes towards RWB conservation.
Educate yourself, your children and others about the seriousness of rhino poaching and dispel a few myths along the way.
MYTH: The rhino horn has medicinal properties. Many Asian countries, such as Malaysia, South Korea and China, believe that rhino horn can cure a variety of ailments.
FACT: There is no proof that rhino horn can cure certain ailments. The horn of a rhino is made of keratin, the same material as our fingernails.
More information can be found at http://www.rhinoswithoutborders.com/ as well as various options to donate to this worthwhile cause.
Also check out https://www.worldrhinoday.org/ to find out more about World Rhino Day on Sunday, 22 September 2019.
“Linton Park and Hugo Rust Primary School further boost Rhino Conservation with R180 000
Linton Park Wine Estate near Wellington – in co-operation with local Hugo Rust Primary School with their own fundraising initiatives – this year increased their joint annual donation for rhino conservation from a modest beginning of R55 000 in 2016 to the substantial amount of R180 000. The cheques were handed to Les Carlisle, the Group Conservation Manager of the AndBeyond Group & Project Manager of Rhinos Without Borders (RWB) at the World Rhino Day celebrations event held at the V&A Waterfront Amphitheatre in Cape Town.
R466 505 raised in four years
This year’s donation brings the total amount jointly raised by Linton Park in partnership with Hugo Rust Primary for the past four years to R466 505. Linton Park increased its contribution from R 100 000 in 2018 to this year’s
R 140 000, while Hugo Rust raised an exceptional amount of R 40 079 with their diverse range of school activities.
The Estate’s Rhino Involvement
Linton Park, with its founder’s history dating back to 1699, is part of the multinational Camellia Plc. business group with its head office in London. Camellia bought Linton Park in 1995 and initiated an extensive restoration programme to reinstate the estate to its former glory. This project was completed early in 2017 when the estate was formally relaunched.
Herman le Roux, Linton Park’s Commercial Director, summarised the estate’s support for rhino conservation in the following words: “At Linton Park, we fully endorse Camellia’s global philosophy of environmental and nature conservation wherever possible. Due to the fact that we have a sensitive and threatened ecosystem on a part of the estate that is a distinctively rare South African type of veld – historically and commonly known as ‘Renosterveld’ in Afrikaans – we decided to extend our commitment to conservation on a wider scale and also specifically to saving rhinos as a precious part of South Africa’s unique cultural heritage.”
He added: “It is really unfortunate that on the African continent and within the borders of our country the continued existence of rhinos is in serious jeopardy and conserving rhinos are always under financial pressure. We make our donation to contribute to the fight for rhino conservation. Furthermore, we want to show our support for the invaluable work that champions such as Les Carlisle, his colleagues, the Rhinos-Without-Borders teams and others do in this regard.”
Hugo Rust Fundraising Initiatives
As mentioned above, local Hugo Rust Primary School in Wellington with its 600 pupils have since 2016 joined forces with Linton Park in the fight to save rhinos. Under the inspirational leadership of Ronel Saayman, project leader and teacher, the school’s learners, teachers and parents have thus far raised about R 78 555 through various imaginative fundraising initiatives – also attracting wide public interest and support with their colourful hand-produced rhino artwork and icons.
Les Carlisle who visited Hugo Rust as guest-of-honour and speaker during a special rhino conservation celebratory occasion at the school on the Friday morning preceding this year’s Waterfront event, was full of praise for the school’s involvement with the Wellington-based fundraising drive since 2016. He commented: “I am actually astounded by what I have witnessed here in this small rural town of Wellington. The enthusiasm and creativity of the learners, their parents and the school’s teachers to raise almost R 80 000 in four years to assist us in preventing the slaughter of rhinos in South Africa, are unheard of. Added to the afore ongoing commitment of Linton Park, we at Rhinos-Without-Borders and the AndBeyond Group have not experienced this anywhere else in our country and we are indeed very grateful for the enormity and impact of this joint initiative.”
One Rand per bottle for Saving Rhinos
Le Roux explained that the estate’s donation was made possible by the sales of the Linton Park ’Rhino’ wine range during the 2018 financial year – highlighting their excellent and affordable Rhino Cabernet Sauvignons and Chardonnays.
Consequently R140 000 was accumulated by putting aside one rand per bottle sold for the rhino preservation fund. “Except for the growing sales of our Rhino range in international markets, the South African public also increasingly supported us by buying and also enjoying our Rhino wines at our Uncork Eatery on the estate. Furthermore, the media helped us in raising public awareness and the trade assisted us where possible with listings and distribution. We wish to thank them all for making this donation possible”, he concluded.”
Press release compiled by OPTIMIZM ibc for Linton Park.
For more information, please contact Kobus Smit at 082 374 7458 or by email at chateau@mweb.co.za
If you enjoyed reading this article, please let me know in the comment section below. You can also hit the Like button and share it with your family and friends on Facebook and Twitter. Follow me on Instagram too. Want to read more about my travel, food and wine adventures? Head on over to my website and subscribe for blog updates (no spamming, I promise).
Yours in Conservation & Wine
xoxo
Feature image by Zoë Reeve on Unsplash.
#hosted
